There's something mysterious about the Academy Award for Best Picture. 

On Oscar Night they give out awards for every aspect of filmmaking: writing, editing, acting, directing, cinematography, costumes, makeup, art direction, special effects, music.  And then, at the end of the night, they give out an award for best picture.

But they don't just tally up the rest of the awards, logically naming the film with the most other Oscars as the best.  It's much more enigmatic than that.

It's not always clear what makes the Best Picture best.  It's definitely not acting; this year, three of the five nominated films have no acting nominations, and in years past, more often than not the film that wins Best Picture is not honored with acting awards.

It isn't directing, it isn't acting, it isn't a great script, or even spectacular special effects; it really isn't one thing that makes a picture great.  It's an intangible melding of everything.

It's magic; and that's why "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" deserves to win this year's Oscar for Best Picture.

Purists may balk at even the suggestion.  Diehard fans of the novel will probably utter some mantra full of disdain for Peter Jackson's blatant disregard for Tolkien's original. 

But they are missing one very important fact: "The Return of the King" is an incredible movie—nay, the best movie of the year.

The final installment in Peter Jackson's epic adaptation of Tolkien's masterpiece is the perfect example of why films are so powerful, so moving, so enthralling, and why audiences have been in love with the medium since Edison's kinetoscope. 

Jackson melds everything together: his script, the eclectic ensemble of actors, the breathtaking landscape of New Zealand, Howard Shore's phenomenal score, and those amazing special effects that bring to life creatures that have lived for so long only in my imagination.

But that's not all. 

  It isn't directing, it isn't acting, it isn't a great script, or even spectacular special effects; it is the magic of emotion expressed through the visual; the artistry of creating an intricate, fantastical world entirely on the screen—complete with history, myth, politics, and infinite detail.

It's the fact that Jackson managed to follow thousands of characters through dozens of intersecting storylines and still make me feel emotionally connected to those two little hobbits as they gallantly charged ahead of the human army in defense of their friends.

As I choked back tears during that poignant, beautiful moment, I was reminded why it is I love the movies.  Right then and there I knew that this was the best film I had seen all year.

Nay Sayers aside, "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" is going to win that little statue for Best Picture of 2003.

It deserves to.  It has to. 

It's magic!

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